Water base stain

Water base stain is a type of stain which is used water as its main thiner. Water base stain one of the water base finishing materials which becomes trend in the finishing industry today. The material use water as its major solvent. It is considered as the environmentally friendly finishing material. The issue of environmental degradation and climate change drivee the finishing industry society to use the materials and system that is considered as more environmentally friendly. This reason makes the water base finishing materials become increasingly popular. Water based stains as the part of the water base finishing material also become popular and is liked by many peoples.

Actually the water base finishing materials technology has been known since long time ago. Started in about 1970, there many water base coating or waterborne materials are introduced to the finishing industry, but there are lot or limitation that restricted the uses of the material. Today,  after much development have been carried out. The finishing material have much better performance than when it was first introduced.

The water base stain is a finishing material used to form a color in a process of finishing. According to the type of finish that is produced then there are 2 types of water base stain that are the water based wood stain and water base paint.

•  Water based wood stain, water based stain.

That is a water based stain used to color the wood to make a transparent color finishing. It is thin and usually applied directly to the wood. It is made from organic pigment as its main ingredient diluted in water and little amount of solvent. This stain produces a bright and transparent coloration. This stain will also penetrate and absorbed by the wood as well as other organic pigmented stain. This stain can be applied in various ways such as: by spray, brush, dipped or wiped. It is can also be applied under many type of clear coating such as: NC, PU and AC as well as the water base coating. The stain is available in various colors except white. We can mix this stain can be mixed to produce the desired color if necessary. The principle of this stain mixing can be done by using the triangle color theory.

• Water based pigment stain

It is the water based stain that made off pigment (inorganic pigment). It has all the pigment stain properties but with water as thinner. Basically it is available in basic color including the black and white color but it can be made in any color with the proper mixing. The stain contain pigment as the material to make color, some binder, some solvent and water as the main thinner. The stain can be applied by spray, dip, brush depend to the formulation. A the organic pigment stain, it does not penetrate and absorbed by the wood as the organic pigment stain, but stay on the top of wood surface. But it will make transparent color for wood as the other wood stain. 

•  Water based paint, water based base coat.

It is a stain that is used to make solid color (opaque color) finish. This stain is thick form as well as the other base coat, paint or enamel. Water based paint is made from inorganic pigment mix with a water based clear coating as binder. This material can be applied over raw wood or sealer to generate a solid color. It is available in a variety of colors including white. If necessary, it can be mixed to make the required color using the color triangle theory principle.

Tips in using the water based stain.

The water base stain principally is the same with other stain, but since the stain use water as its major solvent then he has some unique characters. 

• Choose the appropriate color stain according with the desired color.

The stain is applied in the finishing process to form color. Therefore, the stain must be selected in base on the basic color of the wood and the final color desired. Use the triangle theory to choose the right stain color.

•  The unfinished wood should be dry.

Water based stain contains water in its mixture.  The application to the wood means that the wood is wet with water. The dry wood will make the drying process can occur relatively easy and fast. But if the wood is still wet, then drying stain will be difficult and slowly happened.

•  The environmental conditions.

Drying process is the evaporation of water into the air. In a hot and dry environment, the water evaporation process can easily and quickly happen. But at the humid weather the environment air is full with water vapor and no longer receives water vapor. In a humid or rainy weather the drying process of the water base stain becomes very slow. To do better control the finishing process with water base material, an oven should be installed in the finishing room.

•  The sanding in unfinished wood.

Water based stain will be more wet the wood compared with thinner base wood stain. The water in the stain will wet and lift the wood fibers to make the wood surface tend to be rough. Generally the water base stain will lift more wood fiber and need more sanding process. Water base stain also has a high risk of blotchy and uneven color if the surface underneath has porosity variation. To minimized the uneven porosity then the unfinished wood surface should be well prepared. The proper sanding is needed to ensure that the wood surface is even and smooth. Do glue sizing (sealer sizing) if necessary to do better preparation in the unfinished wood.

•  Use non corrosion equipment  to handle this material.

Water base is corrosive materials. The water in the mixture will attack the metal especially the iron. The container to place this material and the equipment used to handle this material should be made of non corrosion substance. The plastic bucket and drum are the most used to keep and place this material. Meanwhile the tip and nozzle for the spray gun used should be made of stainless steel which has better resistance to the corrosion.